22 Pounds of Turkey bliss

Love Thanksgiving.... love love love... turkey mash stuffing the whole shabang. This year a group of my friends decided we would do a hungover thanksgiving potluck. We were all at a wedding the night before, so I preped my mash a day early in anticipation of the hangover. I was going to show the host my good friend Whitney how easy it is to make a turkey. I was a bit nervous as i've never roasted the whole turkey before, and I had no thermomiter. But as always I like to live on the edge, and be fearless in the kitchen. Thankfully for all of us my love of that bird paid off, it was delicious moist and cooked perfectly. I decided to stuff my bird with sage, rosemary, thyme, garlic, shallots, orange, and lemon. I rubbed Lawrys seasoning salt all over the turkey with some olive oil and pepper. I initially would have loved to brine my bird in water with salt and sugar overnight, but its was so big and not in my fridge, so I wasn't sure if I'd be able to get a moist bird. I left the turkey neck in the pan as well as some extra orange slices and shallots and herbage. Put the bird in at 350 for the first hour, then covered it with tin foil and cooked at 325 for the next 3.5 hours basting with juices every 45 mins or so. For the last 30 mins I uncovered the turkey in hoped of crispy chewy delicious skin, and thats exactly what I got. Everyone was urging me to cut into the bird to make sure it was cooked properly, but I said hellz no! This sucker will rest until I say so, and after 35-40 mins I made the first cut. It was gorgeous! Aromatic juicy turkey perfection. I even carved the damn thing - never done that before either, but It seems I did an excellent job with my helped Kelly who was very good at removing those wings. I didn't bother with gravy, we enjoyed the pan juice and all of the other delights. The compliments keep pouring in, and we can't wait for November to do it all again Americano style. 

Menu: 
22 pound roasted turkey with pan jus
fluffy mash potato
roasted cinnamon sweet potato
corn bread
roasted veg - squash, peppers, mushrooms, asparagus, onion etc...
salad
stuffing and bacon wrapped stuffing balls
squash soup
pumpkin cheesecake
ice cream pie
chocolate peanut butter cups
I'm sure there was more but I just cant remember